Two minutes later.
Beep.
As the watch sounded, Private Anthony shouted loudly.
"That's 120 seconds."
At the same time.
"Huff, huff."
"Hoo."
"Phew."
The three of them, each exhaling rough breaths, removed their hands simultaneously.
The wound was wrapped tightly with compression bandages.
There was no visible bleeding either.
It was a stopgap measure in every sense.
They had more or less stuffed everything in and sealed it tight with compression bandages.
It was first aid that practically anyone could perform.
But having completed it within two minutes made it feel vastly more impressive.
Private Anthony had seen it with his own eyes, especially.
Strangely, his expression held not surprise, but a sense of matter-of-factness.
"You've done it again."
"I merely blocked it up."
"Still, isn't it difficult to do it in that amount of time?"
"Hoo. Let's talk about what's difficult later. What about the helicopter?"
Taesu asked immediately.
He remembered hearing someone talking over the helmet radio while they had been administering first aid.
He had been so focused that he couldn't even hear the sound ringing right beside his ear.
It wasn't just Taesu; Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon were the same.
"Huff, huff."
"Hoo, hoo."
They were busy calming their ragged breathing.
Before they had even steadied their breaths a few times, Kim Hyeokgwon straightened his shoulders and spoke to Jeong Minsu.
"For now, let's just sweep everything in."
"We have to clean up, huff huff."
Rustle, rustle.
Even while exhaling rough breaths, they moved their hands again.
They swept all the used medical supplies into the response bag.
It was right when Taesu was also lending a hand to the cleanup.
Thump, thump, thump.
The sound of the helicopter began to reach their ears again.
The medical staff were used to this kind of situation.
Perhaps because of that, they continued cleaning up while glancing at Private Anthony.
It was a gaze asking him to relay any new information.
Private Anthony answered calmly, as it was something he had obviously anticipated.
"They say the helicopter for Patient One has just arrived."
"What about the wire?"
"They say they're lowering it right now. And the stretcher here is ready."
Thud.
He placed the stretcher down next to the patient.
Taesu immediately spoke to everyone.
"We'll load the patient first, then move out."
"We haven't cleaned up everything here."
"Minsu will clean up and come down separately."
"No. Let's go quickly."
Startled, Jeong Minsu hurried into action.
Soon the four of them lifted the stretcher together and walked toward the helicopter.
A short while later.
The helicopter noise rang loudly overhead.
Thump-thump-thump.
On the ground, securing the metal frame and wire was in full swing.
This was after Private Anthony had moved his hands a few more times.
Twang.
Having pulled hard to test it, Private Anthony gave a thumbs up.
"Securing complete."
"Get on. Minsu too."
"I think Doctor Choi should go first, after all."
Private Anthony tried to disrupt the order he had barely established.
Taesu furrowed his brows deeply and said.
"We need strength more right now, I told you."
"Roger."
Private Anthony barely replied.
At that moment, Kim Hyeokgwon subtly drew attention to himself.
"As for strength, I also have—..."
Taesu cut off Kim Hyeokgwon's words sharply and shouted into the helmet radio.
"Pass. Sam, pull us up."
— Roger, extraction beginning.
Creak.
Immediately the wire tightened and began to rise slowly.
As they lifted bit by bit, Jeong Minsu seemed to feel it more vividly.
He chirped in a voice that had brightened before they knew it.
"Everyone, keep up the good work. I'll go first."
"Stay calm, don't get excited."
"I said I got it, but this is really fast. Wow, nice."
Jeong Minsu's words weren't entirely baseless.
The extraction had only just begun, yet they had already risen to waist height.
Taesu agreed.
"As expected, it's all about power. Ugh. My back."
The damage from the strained posture during forced breathing had settled squarely in his back.
Jeong Minsu looked down at that sight and teased him.
"What are you going to do if you're already like that?"
"Stop messing around and stay tense. Quit looking down."
"Nag, nag. But this is really sturdy. Look at this....... Huh?"
Slip.
Jeong Minsu's shoes, which had been moving this way and that, suddenly slipped.
It was only natural, as he had stepped on the metal frame with snow-filled soles.
This was exactly why they told him not to mess around.
But Jeong Minsu had cleanly ignored that and ended up causing an accident.
It wasn't a situation to merely frown at.
Screech, screech.
"Uh, u-uh."
Jeong Minsu struggled to regain his balance.
The metal frame shook along with his movement. Private Anthony was right in front but had no way to help.
Looking up, Taesu frowned and shouted.
"Minsu, the patient is shaking."
"Ugh, then what do you want me to do."
"Stop."
"That's...... Damn it."
Perhaps thinking it would affect the patient too, Jeong Minsu eventually jumped off the metal frame.
Seeing that, Taesu didn't want to believe it.
Smack.
Taesu's expression, hand pressed to his forehead, became colored with exasperation.
"You bastard, you caused an accident after all."
"It would have been better if I had gotten on instead."
Kim Hyeokgwon threw in a word with a sullen expression.
Jeong Minsu, who had been suspended in the air, crashed down onto the ground by the laws of nature.
It was only about one meter high, but due to his heavy weight, he grimaced horribly.
Thud.
"Ugh, guh."
Taesu approached the groaning Jeong Minsu with a terrifying expression and growled.
"Should I just bury your ass right here?"
"I......."
"Shut your mouth. I'm serious."
"......."
When Taesu warned in a low voice, Jeong Minsu couldn't even make a peep.
Then Captain Austin's voice came through.
— Did Doctor Jeong fall?
"He flailed around and jumped down."
— Then shall we lower the wire again?
"No. We just need to wait a moment. More importantly, Anthony, please attach two blood packs to that patient as soon as he goes up."
Taesu requested in a bitter voice.
The moment he saw Jeong Minsu's plump rear end as he was getting up, he delivered a kick outright.
"You troublemaker."
Thud.
"Ugh."
Despite Jeong Minsu's scream, Taesu shot back coldly.
"I told you to shut up."
"......."
"Did you want to do that right then, is that it? I swear I'll bury you."
Having said it, Taesu became even more worked up and raised his leg again.
Jeong Minsu flinched and replied, hunching his shoulders.
"S-sorry."
"What am I going to do with you. Hah."
Taesu frowned deeply, then soon shook his head.
Still, it was a relief he wasn't hurt.
Since he could get on the last stretcher with Kim Hyeokgwon when the wire came down, he stopped at that.
The time they had been separated from the first patient was within ten minutes, so there shouldn't be any major problems.
While they were squabbling below, the stretcher was already adjacent to the helicopter.
Considering the height, it was remarkably fast.
It was the moment they were admiring that.
Whoosh.
The wind sounded unusual.
At the same time, Kim Hyeokgwon pointed forward and shouted.
"Over there."
"Gasp."
Snow debris was surging up the mountain slope against gravity.
That was how they could gauge the wind's direction and strength.
The strong blizzard wind soon engulfed the three of them.
Pit-pat.
Getting hit by the snow powder was no joke.
"Hup."
"What wind."
"Above."
The helicopter.
Whoosh.
The three quickly raised their heads.
Fortunately, the stretcher had just arrived at the helicopter.
At that moment, Captain Austin's urgent voice came through.
— Damn, mountain wind.
"What?"
— We can't hold out. We're breaking off first.
Captain Austin's cry rang out sharply at the same time.
Thump-thump-thump.
The helicopter rose vertically, escaping the wind's reach.
The three could only watch the helicopter moving away.
Then Taesu suddenly blazed with anger toward Jeong Minsu.
"You bastard."
"Why again."
"If you had gone up, you would be taking care of the patients."
There was a justifiable reason for Taesu's anger.
Jeong Minsu avoided with a panicked expression.
"I said I'm sorry."
"Come here."
"No. You're going to hit me."
When Jeong Minsu refused, Taesu growled again.
"If you were me, you wouldn't hit?"
"I probably would."
"So come here. Come here while I'm still asking nicely, you bastard."
Whoosh.
Taesu swung his fist roughly.
Jeong Minsu, who had been tense, quickly stepped back and shouted.
"I said I was wrong."
"Minsu, you're going to die someday anyway, so let's die pretty. I promise I won't send you off ugly, so come here."
"I'm already ugly, really ugly."
When Jeong Minsu ran away in disgust, Taesu became even more heated.
"Then die ugly."
"Save me."
"Shut up."
Whoosh.
Taesu's fist split the air once more.
Jeong Minsu ran for his life, and Taesu chased right after him.
An untimely game of tag had erupted on the snowy mountain.
Kim Hyeokgwon let out a deep sigh watching that sight.
"Hoo. What have I done so wrong in my life."
The reality of having to look after childish doctors on a snowy mountain seemed to make everything suddenly feel futile.
But the immature doctors didn't seem to have any intention of stopping easily.
Jeong Minsu even nimbly hid behind Kim Hyeokgwon.
Swish.
"Uwah, save me."
"Hyeokgwon, grab that bastard."
Taesu did the same.
Eventually, a thick vein popped out on Kim Hyeokgwon's forehead.
Twitch.
Kim Hyeokgwon was so irritated that he suddenly shouted in rebuke.
"Do you want to play that badly in this situation?"
At the same time as those words.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu stopped simultaneously and protested.
"We're not playing."
"We're not playing."
"You, bastard."
"Mama!"
Pat.
Another chase was about to unfold.
Kim Hyeokgwon quickly blocked Taesu and made him restrain himself.
"Let's stop here."
"Just let me hit him once."
"Hit him when we get back to base. I'll hold him down for you then."
Kim Hyeokgwon quickly presented a compromise.
Taesu frowned deeply, then soon nodded.
"Understood."
"You held back well. Now you too, Doctor Jeong, come here."
Swish, swish.
When Kim Hyeokgwon gestured, Jeong Minsu approached while eyeing Taesu.
"Don't hit me. Really, don't hit me."
"I won't hit you."
"Really?"
"We'll see when we get back."
Glare.
At Taesu's sharp gaze, Jeong Minsu pouted.
"See, I knew it would be like this."
"If you didn't know, you should have been careful from the start."
As Taesu got worked up again, Kim Hyeokgwon held him back.